Harry Potter and the Orphaned Serpent
by DarkLordRowan
Summary: When a mysterious device sends a young Harry back in time, Before the Mauraders, Before Grindelwald's Defeat, to another boy's story that of a young Tom Riddle how will Harry who's been abused and kept ignorant of the wizarding world fare in Wool's Orphanage, and more importantly how will young Tom Riddle react to him? Dark!Harry, Slytherin!Harry, Dumble Bashing, etc.
1. Chapter 1

Note: This story I felt inspired to write one day so here we are the first of many chapters for this work. This is a mix between a Crack Fic and an AU. I'm changing history some rolling it back two years so certain historical events line up with other events to help make this story happen as well as a couple of other things as you'll later find out over the course of the story. As always this is the only warning you'll see for the entire story. The rating has been picked for a specific reason, and since I like writing dark fics this will have mature themes. To me, part of the fun is not knowing what's going to happen next and to see how everything unfolds, so with that said I hope you enjoy this fic, Harry Potter and the Orphaned Serpent.

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Chapter 1:

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September 9th, 1989

The Dursleys were a normal family, well a mostly normal family. The Patriarch, Vernon, was the senior director of Grunnings drill factory. A very proper, normal job. His lovely wife Petunia was a homemaker and avid gardener. She was a very proper, normal woman with normal hobbies. Their very delightful, normal son was named Dudley. He attended a very proper, normal school named St Grogory's Primary School. They lived a proper, normal life in almost every aspect of their life, except in one area. Their nephew, their prisoner. This boy wasn't proper or normal at all. In fact, to his relatives, he was a stain on their existence, a freak born to freak parents. A freak named Harry.

Harry awoke as he usually did in shambles. His body ached and groaned as he heard the loud rapping on his door. He moved his sore arm to grab his dusty glasses. The loud rapping was from no other than his Uncle Vernon.

"GET UP BOY!" his Uncle bellowed loudly banging on his door.

"I won't have you lazing about all day! There's work to be done!" Vernon continued to shout.

The door on Harry's room wretched open as his uncle undid the locks on the outside. Harry's room was small, far too small for any normal child, but as his family said Harry wasn't normal and didn't deserve a normal room. Harry's room was located under the staircase in a small cupboard. The door had 3 locks on the outside of it to keep him in at night and when he was punished.

Harry shook as his large uncle entered the cupboard, the large whale of a man barely fit between the door frame. His large sausage fingers latched onto Harry's hair and Harry let out a yelp as he was thrown out of the cupboard. Harry's shoulder hit the wall hard, as it did most mornings. He quickly scrambled up and tried to stop shaking. He knew after years of this treatment if he showed anything to his uncle his punishment would be ten times worse.

"You ungrateful freak, we take you in out of the kindness of our hearts, and you don't even get up when you're told," Vernon growled pointing his grubby fingers in Harry's face.

"I'm sorry Uncle," Harry quickly placated.

"Listen here boy, we're going out today so you'll be with Mrs. Figg again, after breakfast, and if I hear anything from her about you, you'll regret it, do you hear me?" Vernon continued growling as his face turned red.

"Yes, Uncle, I promise I'll be on my best behavior," Harry said looking down.

Internally Harry was glad, if he was going to be with Mrs. Figg then today wouldn't be so bad. She made him do lots of work, but she wasn't as mean as his family. If Harry finished earlier she might even let him play with her cats.

"Why aren't you fixing breakfast yet boy?!" Vernon growled again grabbing Harry by the shoulder.

Harry was thrust down the hall and into the kitchen. He quickly scrambled up and got to work quickly. This had been Harry's job ever since he could remember, his aunt said a lazy freak had no place in her house so she made him do the cooking, cleaning, and gardening every day. With breakfast finished Harry set the table in front of his family.

"Mummy where are my pancakes?" the fat seal known as Dudley asked.

Aunt Petunia shot up from her chair and snatched harry by the scruff of his shirt.

"They'll be ready soon Dudders, mummy will have the freak make them for you!" Petunia snarled tossing the boy back into the kitchen.

"Yes Aunt Petunia, I'll have them ready soon." Harry placated as he went back to work.

The family quickly devoured the meal as Harry worked on the pancakes. Harry could hear the scrapping of the forks and knives. He liked it better this way since he wasn't forced to watch them eat like he was every other morning.

"Well, at least he can cook," Vernon muttered as he washed the meal down with orange juice.

Just then the telephone rang and Petunia leaped up to answer it.

"Yes, Dursley residence?" Petunia asked in a chipper mood.

"Oh, Mrs. Figg, yes how are you?" Petunia continued the conversation.

"Oh….I see….we'll have to come up with something else..." Petunia said no longer chipper.

"Yes, thank you for telling us," Petunia finished cordially.

"What's going on Pet?" Vernon asked as he got up out of the chair.

"Mrs. Figg has a doctor's appointment, she won't be able to watch the freak for us," Petunia said tensely.

"We'll have to take him with us, you remember what the freak did to the house last time," Vernon said firmly glaring over to where Harry stood.

"But I don't want him to come with us!" Dudley started to whine.

"Now Dudders, we lock him in the car, he won't come inside with us, we'll even buy some early presents," Petunia said rushing over to console her son.

"Fine but I want 5 presents," Dudley muttered.

"Of course pumpkin, 5 presents," Petunia quickly agreed as she pet her son's hair.

"You hear that boy you're coming with us, and if there's any freakishness from you, I lock you in that cupboard for a month!" Vernon snarled.

"Now go wash up in the sink and get ready," Vernon continued.

After Harry set the pancakes on the table he ran to the bathroom upstairs and quickly washed himself in the sink. His family said freaks weren't allowed to use the shower, so he could only use the sink. He dried his hair on the small hand towel and ran back to the cupboard. He knew better than to make them wait for him. He threw on Dudley's old white dress shirt, and a pair of large black slacks. He put on Dudley's old beat-up shoes and left the cupboard.

* * *

With breakfast finished and the family loaded up the Dursleys and Harry set off to London. Even though Harry had to stay in the car he was excited. He rarely got to leave the neighborhood. He wasn't allowed to go to school like Dudley, so this was a once in a lifetime experience for him. He could hear from the conversation in the car that they were going to a party for one of Dudley's friends from school. The sky was sunny and bright and Harry smiled as he felt the sun on his face. The time flew by and before Harry knew it they were in the city.

London was a large and busy city. The roads winded in all directions, and there were people everywhere. The car arrived to halt on the side of the street. Across from them was a large building. Harry couldn't make out what the letters said. His family happily got out of the car and left him in it. Before the family took off Vernon addressed Harry once more.

"Remember what I said boy, any freakishness and you'll get it!" Vernon snarled through the window of the car, "We'll be back in a couple of hours."

Harry looked out the window and tried to occupy himself with simply watching the city. He wasn't sure how long he had been in the car but it was getting very hot inside. He started to sweat and took off his seat belt. He rolled down the window on the car and relaxed as he felt a cool breeze on his face.

He was looking across the road when he saw a peculiar sight. Two people were walking with something floating in between them! They were speaking to each other, but Harry couldn't hear them. Surely this couldn't be real. Harry rubbed his eyes and looked again and the people were still there!

As he pressed up against the window the door opened on its own and Harry fell out of the car. He looked around frantically to see if anyone had seen him. He saw the two people and large thing head down an alleyway. Harry looked between them and the car once more, and he shut the car door and ran to follow the mysterious pair. As he crept down the alley he could start to hear their voices.

"I don't get it Saul," The man in the back said, "What's so special about this thing anyway?"

"I don't know Albert, that's why we're taking it to level 9!" The man called Saul replied.

"I don't see why we couldn't just shrink the bloody thing and apparate," the man called Albert said frustratingly.

"You know why Albert, the aurors found this in the raid on Nott, there's no telling what this thing does!" Saul quickly said.

Harry didn't really understand what they were saying but he was intrigued by it. He had never seen anything so strange, something so magical. He tried to tiptoe forward but heard glass crunch under his feet. The two people also heard it. They quickly turned around startled with sticks pointing out towards Harry, as they turned the device fell and hit the ground hard.

"Saul, I thought you were doing the muggle repelling charm!" Albert quickly started, "Look what you've got us into."

"Albert I-" Saul quickly started but stopped when a mysterious buzz filled the air.

Both men stopped looking at Harry and turned their attention back to what they were carrying. The machine sputtered and smoked and roared to life.

"Oh no! We have to tell the ministry, I'm going to get help Albert, stay with the device!" Saul said as he disappeared from the alley.

Harry's eyes widened as he saw the man vanish from thin air with a pop. He quickly looked back at the machine as it started moving again. The

sunlight poured down and illuminated the machine. He could see gears and smoke whirring and moving.

"As if I'm staying here and taking the blame for it!" Albert cried out, "I'm not getting fired over this!"

And with another pop Albert was gone from the alley as well leaving only the machine and Harry. Harry, entranced by it, moved closer. He could feel something calling to him, beckoning him forward. As he moved closer the machine whirred like crazy and smoke billowing from the top.

An eerie light started to come out of it, a rainbow of all the colors. Then the gears started to crank harder, and bolts started to rattle. A single bolt fell out and got caught in the gears. And then it happened.

A small spark was all it took for the device to explode with Harry in its wake. He was too close to run, too close to react. He was thrown back by the force of the blast and he hit the left wall of the alley hard. He slumped to the ground like a rag-doll from the blast. His body instinctively curled in on itself.

Harry regained consciousness, his body felt awful like something sucked all the wind from him and the very ground moved from under him. He could taste metal in his mouth and feel something pouring from his head. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the dark grey sky.  
Hadn't it been clear before? Harry asked himself as he started to lose consciousness again.

There on the dark dismal street, on the dark September day, he started to fade in and out. His ears were ringing and he thought he could hear a siren in the distance. He groaned out in pain and heard more explosions around him. As his sight faded to black he thought he heard a voice.

"There a boy! He's alive! Near the rubble, we have to get him out!" a woman shouted out.

Then Harry let the darkness take him...


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter and the Orphaned Serpent

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Chapter 2

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September 10, 1938

Harry awoke with a groan. All around him he saw white. His eyes squinted and he turned his head left and right trying to make out where he was. He could hear several faint groans in the background and people talking which meant he wasn't alone.

"This one's awake," Harry heard a feminine voice call out.

He squinted harder as he saw a white blur move close to him. His body hurt everywhere. He felt like something was wrapped around his head and his bones ached in his body. He could feel all of his limbs those his shoulder hurt when he tried to move it.

"Don't move around, you're supposed to be bedridden." the feminine voice chided him.

"W-what happened?" Harry asked the white blob confused.

"You're in the hospital, do you remember what happened?"

The hospital, Harry knew what one was, but he had never seen on in person. The Dursleys didn't believe in taking him to the doctor let alone a hospital.

"I-I remember walking down an alley," Harry started as he tried to remember what happened.

"There was a loud bang, and it got dark," Harry continued.

"Why were you in an alley?" The nurse asked curiously.

"I-I don't remember," Harry started, "I remember I was in the car with my aunt and uncle and then we stopped, and they left."

"They left you?!" the nurse asked quickly not hiding her surprise.

"I-I, yes….no…..I-I have to find them, they're going to be mad if I don't find them," Harry said quickly trying to reason through it.

His family would be mad, they said no freakishness and then all of this happened, he was going to be in so much trouble. He quickly squinted around some more trying to find a face in the hospital, but he couldn't make out any faces.

"Why are you squinting, were you wearing glasses?" the nurse asked trying to calm him down.

"Y-Yes do you know where they are?" Harry asked frantically.

"No, there weren't any glasses when you were brought in, but I can go find some for you in the lost and found," the nurse quickly said as she left the room.

That would be another thing his Uncle was upset about. He was definitely going to be locked up for a month if not a year after all this. Harry started to breathe started to quicken and his pulse sped up. He didn't want to be in trouble, but he knew his family wouldn't listen. He tried to be good, but these things always happened to him and he got punished for it.

The white blob from before quickly returned and put a brown box in Harry's lap.

"There are a lot of different glasses to choose from in this box try some of them on and see which one works the best for you," the nurse said calmly.

Harry worked his way through different pairs, one made things feel really close and another Harry couldn't see anything from them. It was on the 5th pair that Harry found the right match. A small pair of wireframes, that looked black if Harry squinted hard enough, was the right fit.

He quickly put them on and looked around the room. He could see large white curtains on either side of him. Everything in the large room was white the floors, the walls, the beds, everything. He looked back at the nurse who got his glasses. She was an older woman wearing a white uniform, with brown hair sticking out from under her hat. She had a kind, concerned face.

"It looks like you found the right pair," the nurse said smiling at him.

Harry didn't realize but he found that with his new glasses all his bad thoughts of punishments were gone.

"Now I need to ask you some questions," The nurse said looking at him still smiling.

"O-okay," Harry said returning the smile to her.

"What's your name?" the nurse asked.

"Harry" Harry quickly replied.

"And your surname?" the nurse continued.

"My what?" Harry asked confused.

"Your surname, your full name?" the nurse asked showing some confusion.

"Harry, j-just Harry," Harry said again still confused.

"I-I see," the nurse said as her brows furrowed together.

"How old are you Harry?" the nurse asked carefully.

"I'm 9 years old," Harry said quickly.

"Where do you live?" the nurse asked quickly.

"I-I don't know," Harry said not sure.

He hardly ever left the house, and when he did it was only to Mrs. Figg's house so he wasn't really sure where he lived.

"Do you live in London?" the nurse asked confused.

"No we live far away," Harry said confused.

"We? Who do you live with?" the nurse asked trying not too sure her confusion.

"My Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and my cousin Dudley," Harry said slowly.

"Do you know what school you go to, Harry?" the nurse asked trying to figure out where he lived.

"I-I'm not allowed to go to school," Harry said quietly.

"Not allowed? What do you mean?" the nurse asked face full of confusion.

"I-I don't think I'm supposed to say," Harry said as face changed to fear.

He knew by the look on her face, he was saying something that his Aunt and Uncle would get very mad if they knew he told her.

The nurse seeing his fear quickly knelt down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. She smiled at him.

"Harry, I'm a nurse and we try to help people, will you please let me help you," the nurse asked concerned.

Harry wanted to believe her. Everything in his body said to trust her, and so he did.

"M-my Aunt Petunia says p-people like me aren't allowed to go to school," Harry choked out.

"People like you?" the nurse asked slowly.

"F-freaks," Harry said as his eyes started to water.

"Oh, Harry, you poor poor boy," The nurse quickly said as she hugged him.

Harry wasn't sure if it was the hug or if it was saying out loud but he couldn't stop the tears from leaving his eyes. He cried loudly as he clutched to her.

"Shhhh, shhh, it's going to be okay," the nurse said as she pats his back.

After a couple of minutes, Harry started to calm down. The nurse pulled back from him and he started to get his breath under control.

"Harry, I need to call someone, who's going to help you, okay?" the nurse started carefully.

"Am-am I going to be in trouble," Harry asked unsurely.

"I promise you're not going to be in trouble, but I need to call someone alright so we can help you," the nurse said again.

"O-okay," Harry said quietly as he brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

It was only then he realized he wasn't in his clothes. He looked under the covers and he saw a white dress.

"I-I'm wearing a dress!" Harry exclaimed out.

"That's a hospital gown, we had to get rid of your old clothes, there was a lot of blood on them. I can bring you some clothes from the lost and found just like those glasses, alright?" the nurse said laughing slightly from the boy's outburst.

"A-alright, thank you," Harry said quietly.

* * *

It wasn't much later when the nurse returned with some clothes and someone following her. Harry saw a tall man with a black uniform and a large black hat. He had light brown hair and a thick brown mustache on his face.

"Harry, I brought you some clothes, and a friend to help you," The nurse said with a smile.

"Hello Harry, my name is Officer Smith," he said as he held out his hand for Harry to shake.

"Hello," Harry said quietly as he gave the hand a small shake.

"Do you know what an officer is Harry?" Smith asked with a smile on his face.

"N-no," Harry said as he shook his head.

"An officer is a person who protects people. We make sure to put away bad guys and to help little children like you," Smith said carefully.

Harry looked at him suspiciously. He wanted to trust the nurse, but he didn't like meeting new people.

"Nurse Johnson was telling a bit about you and asked me to come to help you," Smith said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"H-help me with what?" Harry asked confused.

"Harry, can you tell me about yesterday," the officer asked.

Harry slowly recounted what he could remember from yesterday's events. How his Uncle woke him up, how he cooked breakfast, and then how they came to London for a party but Harry had to wait in the car. Harry told him how we couldn't really remember what happened after that.

"A party? Now? With the Germans attacking us?" The officer said confused.

"Germans?" Harry asked as his face scrunched up.

"Harry you said you cooked breakfast?" The officer asked going back to his story.

"Y-yes I'm supposed to cook it every morning," Harry said slowly.

"Do they make you do anything else?" the officer continued to ask.

"I have to clean and garden too," Harry said quietly.

"Harry, do they call you names?" the officer asked as he wrote down notes in his notepad.

Harry looked at the nurse, and he saw her nod her head at him.

"Yes, t-they call me a freak," Harry choked out as his voice started to crack.

"Harry," the officer started carefully, "Do they hit you?"

Harry felt the tears come out of his eyes again as he nodded his head yes. He heard the nurse and officer both mutter something as he did it.

"Harry, I promise you, you're not going to go back to them," Smith said firmly looking at Harry.

Harry nodded his head and hugged his knees tighter.

"Their names are Vernon and Petunia, right?" Smith asked again as he scribbled some more in his notepad.

Harry nodded again.

"What happened to your parents?" the officer asked carefully.

"M-my aunt says they died," Harry said quietly.

"Do you know their names?" Smith asked trying to get as much information as he could.

"N-no," Harry said somberly, "M-my aunt says my f-father was a drunk and my mother was a w-whore and they died in a c-car crash."

"Good heavens, how could they be so cruel," the officer said angrily.  
"Harry I need to tell you

something," Officer Smith said carefully.

"I'm going to look for your family, but I don't think I'm going to find them," he continued.

"W-what do you mean, I-I don't understand," Harry asked confused.

"Harry, there's a war going on, those explosions were bombs, part of the city was on fire last night, you're lucky to be alive," Smith said carefully.

"I-I think your family's dead. There were lots of bodies in that area where you were found," he continued somberly.

Harry's eyes grew wide. Dead. They were dead.

"T-that can't be true, t-there's no war," Harry said unsure surely his aunt or uncle would have mentioned one.

The nurse turned around and grabbed a paper off the side table. She quickly walked over to him and held it out for him.

Harry's eyes locked onto the picture he saw. It was a city, and there were flames, he saw words around the pictures but he didn't know what they said. He looked up at both of their faces, they were grave. They were telling the truth. His family must be dead.

"Harry, they were awful awful people, maybe there can be something good all this bad. You're alive and you'll never see them again," Officer Smith said slowly.

Maybe he was right. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe Harry's prayers had been answered. A large part of Harry hoped the officer was right. They were gone and they were never going to hurt him again. Harry hugged his knees tightly and buried his face. He started to smile and he started to laugh as his face was buried.

The nurse and officer must have thought he was crying because they started to console him more. The nurse rubbed her hand across his back as the officer patted his knee.

"Did your aunt or uncle ever mention any family?" Officer Smith asked slowly.

"No, never." Harry choked out.

"Without any other family, we're going to have to put in you an orphanage," Officer Smith said quietly.

* * *

Author's Note: A new chapter so quickly! Now things are getting interesting. As you can see if you're a WW2 history buff, I pushed back the year on the London Air raid, I thought it would be better for the story if it happened this year instead of in 1940. And with this chapter, our premise for the story is set. What awaits Harry in the next chapter? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z...wait no...this isn't a crossover fic, but do check in the next chapter will be a good one...probably...it's not written yet. Thanks for all the follows, favs, reviews, etc! I'm glad you guys are already liking this story. I'm working on another story concurrently called Harry Potter and the Serpent's Den. So I don't know what my upload schedule will be, guess we'll both find out!


	3. Chapter 3

Harry Potter and the Orphaned Serpent

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Chapter 3

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It had been a couple of days later when Harry was healed enough to leave. Harry didn't have the bandage on his head anymore, and he could walk around without any pain. One of the nurses was curious about the scar on his forehead, and Harry told her he'd had it since he was a kid. The nurse put some cream on his head and told him not to pick at it so it could heal properly. Harry just sighed and nodded with her even though he knew it had been like that forever.

Nurse Johnson had made sure to visit him every day, and for that Harry was glad. She was even trying to help him learn how to read, it took some time but Harry was learning more and more. Harry hadn't received any new information from Officer Smith, but he was happy to see the officer every time he visited, and it was on the 5th day of his stay in the hospital that the officer arrived to take him somewhere else.

"It's good to see you're looking better Harry," Officer Smith said smiling as he waved to the boy.

Harry watched as the officer's face fell slightly as he came up to him.

"Harry, I haven't been able to find any of your family, it's been several days now, and things aren't looking good," Officer Smith said slowly.

Harry knew what he was saying, the officer thought his family was dead. He had thought they were dead the five days ago. Harry knew the police were looking hard for them, the officer said what they had done was illegal, so if the police couldn't find them in this time that meant they were probably dead.

He wasn't really sure how he should feel, his emotions were confusing him. A part of him was afraid this was a dream and tomorrow he would wake up in his cupboard, while another part thought that he would see Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia come through the hospital. A small part of him was sad and a small part was glad. If this was real he would never have to see them again. Harry really hoped this was real.

"Harry with the war going on the hospital needs every bed it can spare, and you're well enough now that we need to get you out of here," Smith said slowly as he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"The Orphanage," Harry muttered to himself.

Officer Smith nodded at the boy's words. Harry wasn't sure what this orphanage would be like. He knew it was a home for kids without families and that's what he was now. The nurse had comforted him some by saying there would be lots of kids he could play with, and that made him a little hopeful.

Harry got up out of the bed and put on his new pair of shoes. Well new to him anyway, all his clothes were new to him and at least they fit better than Dudley's old things. The clothes seemed well made too, they didn't have holes or anything. Harry didn't understand how somebody could lose these nice clothes but he was glad they did.

Saying goodbye to the nurse, Harry followed the officer out of the hospital and to his car. This had been the first time Harry was outside and the city wasn't as nice as he remembered. There weren't as many people out and about, and their clothes weren't as vibrant. What people were out had grim expressions. Harry could see it in there faces the pain of war. There wasn't much rubble around the hospital, it seemed they had been lucky enough to not have much damage. Harry could still remember the siren's at night, the first time it happened he had leaped out of bed. A kind nurse explained to him what was going on and put him back to bed, the alert was for the south side of the city.

The car wasn't parked too far from the hospital, the officer had said he parked far enough away in case any emergency cars needed to be at the front. Harry quickly got in and Officer Smith buckled him in. After Smith got in, the pair set off.

* * *

Wool's Orphanage was a rather grim-looking place. The dark grungy building was a shadow of its former self. Built-in 1844 by a wealthy factor owner, Samuel Wool, the orphanage was built to house the children that worked in Wool's Canning. By 1878 children under 10 had been banned from working, and it was then that Wool's Orphanage functioned as a proper orphanage. Years of mismanagement weren't kind to the building and now it was in constant need of repairs.

The black police car arrived at the large front gate. The words Wool's Orphanage were Spelled out in the metal. Seeing this place now it didn't look like how he imagined it to look, but Harry knew that being anywhere would be better than with his aunt and uncle.

The building was large, two or three stories, made of dark red brick. As Harry got out of the car he noticed a small woman standing at the gate. She had short brown hair and a tight face.

"Your late," She said pointedly to Officer Smith.

"Sorry, ma'am," Officer Smith said quickly.

"Is this him, then?" She followed up.

"Yes, this is Harry," Officer Smith said smiling down at the black-haired boy.

"My name is Mrs. Cole, and I'm the matron of Wool's Orphanage," Mrs. Cole said smiling at Harry, "if you would follow me."

Mrs. Cole led them inside and stopped at the front desk. She entered a room on the right and returned with a piece of paper in her hand.

"I pride myself in keeping thorough records on every child," Mrs. Cole said quickly.

"What is the boy's full name," She continued.

"Harry," Officer Smith responded slowly.

"Harry, what?" Mrs. Cole said as she started to write on the paper.

"Just Harry ma'am," Officer Smith said gently.

"What do you mean just Harry?" Mrs. Cole said stopping her hand.

Officer Smith turned to his right and looked at Harry. He knelt down and whispered to the boy.

"Harry, why don't you go find some of the other children, while I talk to Mrs. Cole?" Officer Smith said carefully.

"Y-yes sir," Harry somberly said.

He knew they were going to talk about him. Before he left he turned back to the officer and said goodbye.

"T-thanks for your help, Officer Smith," Harry said slowly.

Officer smiled and shook his hand. Harry left the two of them in the foyer and wandered down the halls. He looked into a couple of rooms, but he didn't have to wander very far to see where the other children were. After passing three rooms, on the left-hand side of the hallway, he came upon a large opening. There must have been doors here at one point in time, but they weren't here anymore. He could hear the kids talking to each other and playing so he crossed the threshold.

All the chatter ceased. Maybe this was a bad idea, he thought in hindsight. He looked around and all the faces were staring at him. Harry blushed red and looked down.

"S-sorry," Harry squeaked out as he started to back away.

Suddenly he bumped into something and stopped. He looked up, it was Mrs. Cole. She quickly gripped his shoulders and pushed him forward. Harry looked down again.

"Everyone, this is Harry, he's going to be staying with us," Mrs. Cole said gently.

"Make sure you all play nice with him," Mrs. Cole continued.

"Yes, Mrs. Cole," the children all responded.

Mrs. Cole didn't let go of Harry instead she brought him over to the group on the left of the room by the window.

"Dennis, Harry will be your new roommate, make sure you show him around," Mrs. Cole said.

"Yes, ma'am." the boy Harry assumed as Dennis replied.

Dennis was a tall thin boy. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. Dennis quickly stuck out his hand and smiled down at the boy.

"Hello, Harry I'm Dennis," Dennis said.

"H-hello," Harry said slowly as he took the boys hand.

"Good now you boys play nicely while I go work," Mrs. Cole said quickly leaving Harry with the group.

The group consisted of 3 boys. Dennis was on the right and two boys were on the left.

"Harry these are my friends, Eric, and Billy," Dennis quickly started, "They're in the room next to ours, room 29."

Harry nervously shook their hands as they introduced themselves. He thought Dennis was the leader of the little group because he did most of the talking.

"Hiya Harry," a shorter blonde-haired boy started, "I'm Eric."

"Harry," A lanky red-haired boy said nodding at him, "Names Billy."

Harry thought this didn't seem so bad, they seemed nice enough. Nurse Johnson and Officer Smith had seemed so nice to him, maybe this was how people were all the time. Maybe his Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin had been the weird ones.

A large part of Harry wanted to hope this was true, wanted to believe this was true. Not all of him did though, a small part in the back of his mind told him it wasn't true, but he tried to keep that part quiet. Harry was quickly taken out of his thoughts he heard Dennis address him again.

"Do you want to come outside and play with us, Harry?" Dennis asked smiling at the black-haired boy.

Harry nodded his head and returned the boy's smile. Harry had never been asked to play before! He had never been allowed to play before! This was his chance to play and to make friends. He had always watched his cousin and his friends play together while he was forced to work inside the house. He had seen them from the window and he longingly watched them.

Harry quickly followed the boys out of the big room and out into the hallway. The boys went left and out the back door of the orphanage. They arrived in a large courtyard. It was enclosed by a large brick wall. The ground was half brick at the front and half grass and shrubs at the back. The sun was hidden behind some clouds on this overcast day. The small group of boys went to play on the grassy half of the courtyard in the back.

"Alright boys," Dennis started with a smirk, "let's play tag, and since it's Harry's first day, let's make him It."

Harry wasn't sure what Tag was or what being It meant, and he was confused when the boys quickly ran away from him laughing. Dennis seemed to notice Harry's confusion and quickly stopped. His face matched the black-haired boy and he slowly walked back over to him.

"Harry, haven't you ever played Tag before?" Dennis asked confused.

"N-no, sorry," Harry quickly said looking down.

His first chance to make friends, and he was already messing it up. He was sure they wouldn't like him after this.

"Oh, that's okay," Dennis quickly started, "It's easy, you just chase after us and try to touch one of us, and when you do they become It and then you have to run it's fun."

Harry took in the boy's words and nodded then he smirked as he thought of something. He slowly put his hand up and touched Dennis's shoulder.

"Your It," Harry said and ran away not even noticing Dennis's smirk.

"You little sneak! I'm only coming after you now!" Dennis shouted as he ran after the black-haired laughing.

* * *

The boys played outside the rest of the day and it was turning into the evening when a woman Harry didn't recognize called them to come inside.

"Boys, it's time for dinner, you can play again tomorrow," the short woman said.

"Okay, Martha," Dennis shouted back.

"Let's go, guys," Dennis quickly said to the group.

He put his hand on Harry's shoulder and led the boy back into the house. Dennis led Harry to the first door on the left. Harry walked into the kitchen where a line of kids was standing. Martha, as Harry now knew her, was ladling out the soup into bowls for the children to take. Harry got to the front of the line and was handed a bowl, a spoon, and a piece of bread. Harry didn't know where to go so he waited for Dennis who was right behind him. Harry followed the tall brown-haired boy back into the large room where they first met. Dennis sat on the floor and Harry sat next to him as his other friends came and sat too.

"Here Harry," Dennis said handing out his bread, "It's your first day here so you can have my bread."

Harry looked at him in confusion. He was giving him his food. Harry had never been given food like this from anyone.

"I-it's yours," Harry said trying to refuse.

"Take it, you'll want it for the soup trust me," Dennis said with a smirk.

Harry reached out his hand and took the piece of bread slowly. He smiled and felt his eyes starting to water. He had never met anyone this kind. Harry looked down, to not show his eyes, and focused on his food. He slowly scooped some onto his spoon and into his mouth.

Sure it was a little watery, sure there wasn't much meat in it, sure it needed seasoning, but to Harry, this was the best-tasting meal he had ever had. He dipped his bread in it savored the taste of it. He quickly devoured his entire piece. He looked at the piece Dennis gave him and smiled again. He broke it in half and handed half back to the boy. Dennis took it and smiled at him.

He had made a friend...

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter. I think there should be one or two more only Harry chapters, and then I'll start introducing some more POVs. A time jump or two will happen soon too. Thanks for all the follows, favs, and reviews!


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